Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast () is a
federal subject of
Russia (an
oblast). It comprises the island of
Sakhalin and
Kuril Islands.
The region has an area of 87,100 km² and a population of 546,695 (
2002 All-Russian Population Census). Its administrative center and largest city is
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with a population of around 170,000.
Besides people from other parts of the former
Soviet Union, Sakhalin is home to
Nivkhs and
Ainu, with the latter having
lost their language in Sakhalin recently.
Some territories of Sakhalin Oblast (four islands, the southern ones of Kuril archipelago) are claimed by
Japan.
Population: 546,695 (
2002 Census)
Ethnic groups:
As per the 2002 census, ethnic
Russians at 460,778 (84.3%) constitute by far the largest group of the population, followed by
Koreans at 29,592 (5.41%),
Ukrainians at 21,831 (4%) and a host of smaller groups (all in all, 127 distinct ethnic groups are listed for the
oblast).
The
indigenous people of Sakhalin are the
Xianbei and
Xiazhe tribes, who had a way of life based on fishing. The Chinese in the
Ming dynasty knew the island as Kuyi (), and later as Kuye (). According to the Book of Shengmu (), the Ming sent 400 troops to Sakhalin in
1616, but later withdrew as it was considered there was no threat to Chinese control of the island. A Ming boundary stone still exists on the island.
The
Qing Empire also claimed sovereignty over the island and Sakhalin was under formal Chinese rule from the
Jin Dynasty onwards. However, as the Chinese governments did not have a military presence on the island, people from both Japan and Russia attempted to
colonise the island. The Japanese settlement of Ootomari was established in
1679. Cartographers of the
Matsumae clan created a map of the island and called it "Kita-Ezo" (Northern Ezo, Ezo is the old name of
Hokkaido). The
1686 Nerchinsk Treaty reaffirmed Sakhalin as Chinese territory. Nevertheless Russia started occupying the island, with an army made up of convicts, from the
18th century onwards.
Sakhalin became known to Europeans from the travels of
Ivan Moskvitin and
Martin Gerritz de Vries in the 17th century, and still better from those of
Jean-François de La Pérouse (
1787) and
Ivan Krusenstern (
1805). Both, however, regarded it as a peninsula, and were unaware of the existence of the
Mamiya Strait or
Strait of Tartary, which was discovered in
1809 by
Mamiya Rinzo.
Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in
1845. However, the Russian navigator
Gennady Nevelskoy in
1849 definitively recorded the existence and navigability of this strait and — in defiance of Qing claim — Russian
settlers established coal mines, administration facilities, schools, prisons, churches on the island. The Xiazhes were killed or forced to move to the Asian mainland.
In
1855, Russia and Japan signed the
Treaty of Shimoda, which declared that both nationals could inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clear boundary between. Russia also agreed to dismantle its military base at Ootomari. Following the
Opium War, Russia forced the Qing to sign the
Treaty of Aigun and
Convention of Peking, under which China lost all territories north of
Heilongjiang (
Amur) and east of
Ussuri, including Sakhalin, to Russia. A
Czarist
penal colony was established in
1857, but the southern part of the island was held by the Japanese until the
1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, when they ceded it to Russia in exchange for the
Kuril islands. After the
Russo-Japanese War, Russia and Japan signed the
Treaty of Portsmouth of
1905, which resulted in the southern part of the island below 50° N reverting to Japan; the Russians retained the other three-fifths of the area. South Sakhalin was administrated by Japan as Karafuto-chō (樺太庁), with the capital Toyohara, today
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
In August
1945, the
Soviet Union took over the control of Sakhalin. The Soviet attack on South Sakhalin started on
August 11 1945, about a month before the
Surrender of Japan. The 56th Rifle Corps consisting of the 79th Rifle Division, the 2nd Rifle Brigade, the 5th Rifle Brigade and the 214 Armored Brigade attacked the Japanese 88th Division. Although the Red Army outnumbered the Japanese by three times, they couldn't advance due to strong Japanese resistance. It was not until the 113th Rifle Brigade and the 365th Independent Naval Infantry Rifle Battalion from Sovietskaya Gavan (Советская "авань) landed on Tōrō ("路), a seashore village of western Sakhalin on August 16 that the Soviets broke the Japanese defense line. Japanese resistance grew weaker after this landing. Actual fightings continued until August 21 and these fightings were petty. From
August 22 to
August 23, most of the remaining Japanese units announced truce. The Soviets completed the conquest of Sakhalin on
August 25 1945 by occupying the capital of Sakhalin, Toyohara. Japanese sources claim that 20.000 civilians were killed during the invasion.
Since
January 2,
1947, the Sakhalin Region, in its present form, was officially defined and integrated as a part of the
Russian Federation. Many South Koreans moved to the island after Japan's defeat. Most Koreans living there now are descendants of these early immigrants, but consider themselves to be Russians.
The status of the
Kuril Islands remains
disputed. Japan renounced its claims of sovereignty over southern Sakhalin in the
Treaty of San Francisco (
1952), but did not approve Russian sovereignty over it. From Japan's official position, Sakhalin's attribution is not determined yet, and it is marked as
No Man's Land on Japanese maps. As of 2005, The issue remains a major strain on
Japanese-Russian relations. Even now, no official peace treaty has been signed between the two nations.
On
May 28 1995, an
earthquake measuring 7.5 on the
Richter scale occurred, killing 2,000 people of the
town of
Neftegorsk.
As per the 2002 census, 333 residents of the oblast still identified themselves as ethnic Japanese. Data on Ainu population is not available; "Ainu" may have been either included in the "Other" category or the Ainus may have identified themselves as "Japanese" during the census.
The current governor is
Ivan Malakhov.
*
Official website of Sakhalin Oblast.
